What Makes A Car Safe?

When you buy a new car, what are the things you consider before making the purchase? Price? Mileage? Size? How about safety rating? Do you even think about how safe a car is? But more than that, do we even know what makes a car safe?

What Makes A Car Safe?

Accidents happen at the worst moments. There’s no way to predict when it can happen. Because of this, the only thing you can do is to ensure that your car is the safest place you can be during the accident.

However, not all cars are created equal. Some are safer than others. If you are shopping for a brand new or used car, it’s best to know the safety rating of a car and the safety features it has before making a decision. More than the price or mileage, you must be sure that your car can protect you on the road.

But before we go and talk about safety features, let’s try to understand what safety ratings are and how they work.

Safety ratings are given by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to cars depending on how safe they are. Cars are given 1 to 5 stars with 5 as the safest and 1 as the lowest possible safety standard. You can check the safety ratings of cars online or on the stickers that come are found on the windows.

Inside the NHTSA, they check for a number of things in order to give the safety rating of a car. Perhaps the most popular check they do is called a crash test. This is when they subject the car to various crashes (front, rear, and side) to check for crashworthiness.The test aims to find out whether the car can lessen the damage to its passengers in the event of an accident.

Car Safety Features You Should Look Out For

Aside from the safety rating provided by the NHTSA, you should also look out for safety features that can make a specific car safer than the others. We’ve listed down some of the safety features you might want to look out for if you are in the market for a new car.

Airbags – Airbags work perfectly with seat belts in ensuring passenger safety. While the seat belt keeps you from being thrown away from your seat, the airbag cushions the probable impact you might have with the steering wheel or dashboard. While others claim that seat belts are unnecessary when you have airbags, this is false and a very dangerous way of looking at car safety.

Anti-lock Braking System – ABS is a mechanism that prevents the car’s wheels from locking due to emergency braking. This allows the driver to have better control of the car even when they hit the brakes. This helps in collision avoidance and gives the driver enough control to maneuver. However, the ABS is not all-powerful as you may still lose control of your car if you are going to fast or are doing extreme maneuvers. Some cars that come with ABS also have brake assist. Brake assist senses the “urgency” of your brake and adjusts the power as needed. The system detects the speed and force at which the driver steps on the brake pedal and assesses it. On normal conditions, brake assist allows the driver to reach the threshold to activate ABS more quickly.

Electronic Stability Control – Often named differently depending on the manufacturer, ESC is a system that assists the driver in keeping the car under control during extreme maneuvers. ESC can sense when a driver is oversteering (causing the car to spin) and applies the brake to one wheel in order to cancel the spin. ESC is designed to minimize accidents where cars veer off the road. One thing worth noting is that ESC can easily be overcome by extreme speed.

Seat belts – No car on the road should be without a seatbelt. However, a seatbelt should be more than just a thing that keeps you on your seat. It should be comfortable enough to be used during daily drives, strong enough to keep you from flying out of the windshield or hitting the steering wheel in an accident, and designed to limit damage to your shoulders and chest upon impact. Look for a car with safer seat belt designs.

Safety should be the number 1 priority when buying cars. After all, accidents can happen at any time so you should be sure that your car can handle the job when the time arises. T3 Atlanta can help you out in picking the right car for your need based on the safety ratings and features. We can help you create a checklist to find out if a specific car is safe enough for you and your family. Contact us today!

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In 1994, our founder, Charles Wright, wanted to leave the corporate/professional environment and start his own company. After months of reading business planning books, he decided to establish an auto service company. He recalled reading that auto repair people were the first or second least trusted group of people among service providers, and Charles wanted to provide Atlanta car owners with a trustworthy auto repair shop. He learned how the service business was structured, and opened T3 Atlanta to offer customers an affordable and efficient service company. To learn more about Lexus, Infiniti, Toyota, and Nissan auto repairs at T3 Atlanta, please contact our office!

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Our team consists of the best Lexus, Infiniti, Toyota, and Nissan technicians in the area. Every one of our award-winning, factory trained technicians can resolve a customer's vehicle problem. If you are experiencing problems with your vehicle, in most cases we can diagnose the issue free of charge. By offering discounted services to every customer 365 days a year, we do not need to offer specials to increase our clientele. We have an auto shop located in Smyrna, as well as Decatur/Scottdale, so owners can seek our mechanics’ assistance at one of our two convenient locations. Read More